The Cheerleader Who Fell To Earth.

My apologies to David Bowie for that entry title.

So, last week, an 18 year old cheerleader from SIU fell 15 feet from a Cheerleading pyramid and onto her head, during a game.

Onto.
Her.
Head.

From 15 feet up.

Ouch.

Here's a brief article giving out the pertinent details.

Injured Illinois cheerleader who cheered from gurney worried accident might distract from game

The Associated Press
Published March 8, 2006, 7:25 AM CST

NEW YORK -- A cheerleader who continued to cheer for her team from a gurney despite tumbling 15 feet onto her head said Wednesday she was worried the accident would distract from the basketball game.

"My biggest concern was that I didn't want my squad to be distracted _ so that they could continue cheering on the team—and I didn't want my team to be distracted from winning the game," Kristi Yamaoka, 18, told NBC's "Today" show.

Yamaoka, a Southern Illinois University sophomore from Springfield, Ill., suffered a concussion, a spinal fracture and a bruised lung when she lost her balance atop a human pyramid during a time-out in Sunday's game against Bradley.

She drew national attention as she was wheeled off the court. When the pep band fired up the school's fight song "Go Southern Go," Yamaoka gave a two-handed thumbs up from the gurney, then moved her arms—the only things not strapped down—in time to the music and cheered.

"I'm still a cheerleader—on a stretcher or not," Yamaoka told the "Today" show while wearing a neck brace and her cheerleading uniform. "So as soon as I heard that fight song, I knew my job and just started to do my thing."

Following Yamaoka's accident, the Missouri Valley Conference barred certain cheerleading stunts during this week's women's basketball tournament. Cheerleaders may not be launched or tossed and may not take part in formations higher than two levels during the tournament.

And here's a picture of the Brave Little Cheerleader, as she was carted away by the EMS technicians. Please note that even though 90 percent of her body is secured to the stretcher, her little arms are in full cheer mode. She's cheering her little heart out and I am to understand that got a standing ovation from the attending audience. Please note that EMS worker appreciates little Kristi's pep.






"I'm still a cheerleader—on a stretcher or not,"







Okay, let's be honest here. That looks a little silly, doesn't it? The video that is available, which you can Google for yourself, doesn't look much better. I watched it and thought, "Wow, a concussion makes you want to keep on cheering. She must've been on some truly superlative painkillers. That or there is a Code of Honor for cheerleaders that I simply do not appreciate. Perhaps they think that the cheers that they have a deeper commitment to the game than I do. Perhaps they take that stuff very, very seriously. God Bless their peppy little hearts."

Clearly "Cheering" is very important to this girl. So much so, that even after sustaining a rather serious head injury, she feels compelled to keep up the show for her audience.

Because she was afraid it would affect the game...

(Which would be the first time in recorded history that a cheerleader actually affected the outcome of a sport game. At all. Ever. Period.)

I tried to think of whether there is anything that I enjoy doing so much that I would involve my unsecured arms to continue the activity after taking a serious blow to the head from a very high fall. What means that much to me, that I would HAVE TO keep it up, as I was carried away? Why wouldn't I just take a pain killer and lie there, praying for a merciful death?

The only thing I can think of, is to "pat myself down, if I suspected that I was on fire."

Other than that, knock my ass out. Give me lots of drugs. Let someone else keep the Cheer alive.

COB out...

PS. Ms. Yamaoka made a full recovery and is up and about, in her neckbrace. She won't be cheering anymore, but she is alive and mobile and if she's smart, avoiding place that don't have proper handrails installed. So, there's a happy ending to this story, after all.

PSS. Do yourself a favor and wait until you go home to Google pictures of "Cheerleader" with your Safe Search off. So many blowjobs. So much anal sex. A guy could be sifting through that stuff for hours.